Books with title The Black Man: His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements

"The first really important work in black history … perhaps his best book." Goezmann, Beyond the Revolution (2009)"William Wells Brown truly dominated the market of Black historical works in the postbellum period." -Van Hove, Congoism (2017)"A writer whose literary career is a remarkable catalog of firsts." -Arkansas Review (2004)"Scholars have called William Wells Brown the first African American to achieve distinction in belles lettres, or literature." – Africana (2004)In 1863, former slave William Wells Brown, a prominent African-American abolitionist lecturer, pioneering novelist, playwright, and black historian published perhaps his greatest work, "The Black Man, His Antecedents, His Genius, and His Achievements."In introducing his work, Brown describes his purpose in writing the book as "to meet and refute misrepresentations, and to supply a deficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketches of individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence."Growing up a slave, Brown is famously credited as being the author of the first novel, play, and travel book published by an African American in the United States.In his book "The Black Man," Brown argued for blacks' rights to full citizenship, and to make his case he includes a series of life histories of notable blacks, showing their contributions to the nation or region. Brown also highlights slaves' willingness to use violence to gain their freedom, including portraits of a number of revolutionary blacks who revolted against their slave masters.Brown's book opens with his own amazing life story, then is followed by an overview of black heritage going back to Ethiopia, Egypt, Minerva, Jupiter, Tertullian, St. Augustine, Hanno, Hamilcar Barca, and Hannibal---demonstrating the historical nature of the cosmopolitan black community. The remainder of the book is devoted to 57 short biographies of famous black historical figures including Benjamin Baneker, Nat Turner, Toussaint L'Ouverture, Crispus Attucks, Alexander Dumas, Denmark Vesey, Martin Delany, Frederick Douglass, James W.C. Pennington, Sir Edward Jordan, and John S. Rock.In describing his view on social justice, Brown writes that "every man must make equality for himself. No society, no government, can make this equality. I do not expect the slave of the south to jump into equality; all I claim for him is, that he may be allowed to jump into liberty, and let him make equality for himself."In describing his views on the high importance of self-improvement, Brown writes that "I have some white neighbors around me in Cambridge; they are not very intellectual; they don't associate with my family; but whenever they shall improve themselves, and bring themselves up by their own intellectual and moral worth, I shall not object to their coming into my society--all things being equal."Other works by the author include: •Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave•Three Years in Europe: Or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met•CLOTEL; or the President's Daughter •The American Fugitive in Europe•The Rising Son, or The Antecedents and Advancements of the Colored Race•My Southern Home: or, The South and Its People•The Negro in the American RebellionBiographies included in Brown's "The Black Man" include: •BENJAMIN BANNEKER•NAT TURNER•MADISON WASHINGTON•HENRY BIBB•PLACIDO•TOUSSAINT L'OUVERTURE•CRISPUS ATTUCKS•DESSALINES•IRA ALDRIDGE•JOSEPH CINQUE•ALEXANDRE DUMAS•HENRI CHRISTOPHE•PHILLIS WHEATLEY•JAMES WHITFIELD•FRANCES ELLEN WATKINS•EX-PRESIDENT ROBERTS•ALEXANDER CRUMMELL•ALEXANDRE PETION•MARTIN DELANY•ROBERT SMALL.•FREDERICK DOUGLASS•CHARLES REASON•CHARLOTTE FORTEN

This is a history of African Americans in America written by a former slave during the 19th century. From the preface: " THE calumniators and traducers of the Negro are to be found, mainly, among two classes. The first and most relentless are those who have done them the greatest injury, by being instrumental in their enslavement and consequent degradation. They delight to descant upon the "natural inferiority" of the blacks, and claim that we were destined only for a servile condition, entitled neither to liberty nor the legitimate pursuit of happiness. The second class are those who are ignorant of the characteristics of the race, and are the mere echoes of the first. To meet and refute these misrepresentations, and to supply a deficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketches of individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence, this volume was written. The characters represented in most of these biographies are for the first time put in print. The author's long sojourn in Europe, his opportunity of research amid the archives of England and France, and his visit to the West Indies, have given him the advantage of information respecting the blacks seldom acquired. If this work shall aid in vindicating the Negro's character, and show that he is endowed with those intellectual and amiable qualities which adorn and dignify human nature, it will meet the most sanguine hopes of the writer."

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

THE calumniators and traducers of the Negro are to be found, mainly, among two classes. The first and most relentless are those who have done them the greatest injury, by being instrumental in their enslavement and consequent degradation. They delight to descant upon the "natural inferiority" of the blacks, and claim that we were destined only for a servile condition, entitled neither to liberty nor the legitimate pursuit of happiness. The second class are those who are ignorant of the characteristics of the race, and are the mere echoes of the first. To meet and refute these misrepresentations, and to supply a deficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketches of individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence, this volume was written. The characters represented in most of these biographies are for the first time put in print. The author's long sojourn in Europe, his opportunity of research amid the archives of England and France, and his visit to the West Indies, have given him the advantage of information respecting the blacks seldom acquired. If this work shall aid in vindicating the Negro's character, and show that he is endowed with those intellectual and amiable qualities which adorn and dignify human nature, it will meet the most sanguine hopes of the writer.

This reproduction was printed from a digital file created at the Library of Congress as part of an extensive scanning effort started with a generous donation from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. The Library is pleased to offer much of its public domain holdings free of charge online and at a modest price in this printed format. Seeing these older volumes from our collections rediscovered by new generations of readers renews our own passion for books and scholarship.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

William Wells Brown (circa 1814 – November 6, 1884) was a prominent African-American abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian in the United States. Born into slavery in Montgomery County, Kentucky, near the town of Mount Sterling, Brown escaped to Ohio in 1834 at the age of 20. He settled in Boston, Massachusetts, where he worked for abolitionist causes and became a prolific writer. While working for abolition, Brown also supported causes including: temperance, women's suffrage, pacifism, prison reform, and an anti-tobacco movement. His novel Clotel (1853), considered the first novel written by an African American, was published in London, England, where he resided at the time; it was later published in the United States. Brown was a pioneer in several different literary genres, including travel writing, fiction, and drama. In 1858 he became the first published African-American playwright, and often read from this work on the lecture circuit. Following the Civil War, in 1867 he published what is considered the first history of African Americans in the Revolutionary War. He was among the first writers inducted to the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame, established in 2013. A public school was named for him in Lexington, Kentucky. Brown was lecturing in England when the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law was passed in the US; as its provisions increased the risk of capture and re-enslavement, he stayed overseas for several years. He traveled throughout Europe. After his freedom was purchased in 1854 by a British couple, he and his two daughters returned to the US, where he rejoined the abolitionist lecture circuit in the North. A contemporary of Frederick Douglass, Brown was overshadowed by the charismatic orator and the two feuded publicly... Brown stayed abroad until 1854. Passage of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Law had increased his risk of capture even in the free states. Only after the Richardson family of Britain purchased his freedom in 1854 (they had done the same for Frederick Douglass), did Brown return to the United States. He quickly rejoined the anti-slavery lecture circuit. Perhaps because of the rising social tensions in the 1850s, Brown became a proponent of African-American emigration to Haiti, an independent black republic in the Caribbean since 1804. He decided that more militant actions[clarification needed] were needed to help the abolitionist cause. During the American Civil War and in the decades that followed, Brown continued to publish fiction and non-fiction books, securing his reputation as one of the most prolific African-American writers of his time. He also helped recruit blacks to fight for the Union in the Civil War. He introduced Robert John Simmons from Bermuda to the abolitionist Francis George Shaw, father of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commanding officer of the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry Regiment. While continuing to write, Brown was active in the Temperance movement as a lecturer. After studying homeopathic medicine, he opened a medical practice in Boston's South End while keeping a residence in Cambridge. In 1882 he moved to the nearby city of Chelsea. William Wells Brown died on November 6, 1884 in Chelsea, Massachusetts at the age of 70.....

In making his case for the intellectual and moral equality of negroes at a time when the majority of white society believed otherwise, William Wells Brown presents more than 50 portraits of African Americans who, in the face of prejudice and slavery, managed to make a difference. Called at the time of its 1865 publication "the best account of the ability of the Negro ever put in print" and "an incontestable argument," the book's clarity, vision, and the author's own enormous achievements make it an essential slice of black history that could make the same claims today, more than 140 years later. Born into slavery, American author WILLIAM WELLS BROWN (1814-1884) escaped to the North where he became a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. His novel, Clotel: or, The President's Daughter, is considered by historians to be the first novel written by an African American. His other works include The Negro in the American Rebellion and The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom.

This is a history of African Americans in America written by a former slave during the 19th century. From the preface: " THE calumniators and traducers of the Negro are to be found, mainly, among two classes. The first and most relentless are those who have done them the greatest injury, by being instrumental in their enslavement and consequent degradation. They delight to descant upon the "natural inferiority" of the blacks, and claim that we were destined only for a servile condition, entitled neither to liberty nor the legitimate pursuit of happiness. The second class are those who are ignorant of the characteristics of the race, and are the mere echoes of the first. To meet and refute these misrepresentations, and to supply a deficiency, long felt in the community, of a work containing sketches of individuals who, by their own genius, capacity, and intellectual development, have surmounted the many obstacles which slavery and prejudice have thrown in their way, and raised themselves to positions of honor and influence, this volume was written. The characters represented in most of these biographies are for the first time put in print. The author's long sojourn in Europe, his opportunity of research amid the archives of England and France, and his visit to the West Indies, have given him the advantage of information respecting the blacks seldom acquired. If this work shall aid in vindicating the Negro's character, and show that he is endowed with those intellectual and amiable qualities which adorn and dignify human nature, it will meet the most sanguine hopes of the writer."